Sexy Thoughts

Eros, the Greek god of desire, was originally considered one of the primordial gods, birthed out of a cosmic egg. Later he was considered to be the child of Aries, the god of war, and Aphrodite, the goddess of love.This symbolism is so interesting to me. First that desire was the first impulse that created order out of chaos; then also the by product of war and love.

"At the beginning there was only Chaos, Night (Nyx), Darkness (Erebus), and the Abyss (Tartarus). Earth, the Air and Heaven had no existence. Firstly, black winged Night laid a germ-less egg in the bosom of the infinite deeps of Darkness, and from this, after the revolution of long ages, sprang the graceful Love (Eros) with his glittering golden wings, swift as the whirlwinds of the tempest. He mated in the deep Abyss with dark Chaos, winged like himself, and thus hatched forth our race, which was the first to see the light." [1]

Some philosophies suggest that we should aim to eliminate desire to find peace, but I think there's something missing there, because there is still desire involved in wanting peace. I believe peace can be found in a sense of gratitude, reverence for ones current stage of the fulfillment of ones desire.

Cupid, the Roman version of Eros, is depicted as having a bow and arrow. This symbol is powerful to me. There is tension in the bow, and sharpness in the arrow. The tension and release reflect the orgasmic principle which is evident everywhere in the human body and in nature. Its the sympathetic and parasympathetic, its the orgasmic ebb and flow of the universe. The arrow suggests direction and focused intent. The word sin is an archery term, meaning to miss the mark; essentially a lack of focus.

Dynamic tension is different from stress. Stress that is not released causes disease, disconnect. Dynamic tension is not static, but has the purpose of building up a charge and then releasing it; winding up and unwinding. This is very healthy in the mind and body. Its where all strength and creativity come into fuller manifestation.

The physical emphasized version of this is quite present in the Qi Gong training that Ive done, described at length by the emerging fascia science. Its also very present in the de-armoring of Sexalogical Bodywork. And both recognize the mindfulness, the focused intent as key.

The mind emphasized component I see in art and activism. Artists build up a sort of internal dynamic tension by observing, feeling, and then unleash that energy in a focused way. Activists are charged up by their sensitivity to their environment and community, and passionately respond by participating in change creation. Of course this too requires a bodily engagement.

All of this I attribute to desire, the lusty, passionate, desire to be both receptive and active, mental and physical in ones own life. Vitality I believe is an eagerness to both receive and to give; to be part of natures flow. The sum of this is what I call presence. Our passionate desire can create a potent presence.

I think this following interplay is also quite relevant to my work:

The story of Eros and Psyche has a longstanding tradition as a folktale of the ancient Greco-Roman world long before it was committed to literature in Apuleius' Latin novel, The Golden Ass. [...]The story tells of the struggle for love and trust between Eros and Psyche. Aphrodite was jealous of the beauty of mortal princess Psyche, as men were leaving her altars barren to worship a mere human woman instead, and so she commanded her son Eros, the god of love, to cause Psyche to fall in love with the ugliest creature on earth. But instead, Eros falls in love with Psyche himself and spirits her away to his home. Their fragile peace is ruined by a visit from Psyche's jealous sisters, who cause Psyche to betray the trust of her husband. Wounded, Eros leaves his wife, and Psyche wanders the Earth, looking for her lost love. Eventually she approaches Aphrodite and asks for her help. Aphrodite imposes a series of difficult tasks on Psyche, which she is able to achieve by means of supernatural assistance.After successfully completing these tasks, Aphrodite relents and Psyche becomes immortal to live alongside her husband Eros. Together they had a daughter, Voluptas or Hedone (meaning physical pleasure, bliss).In Greek mythology, Psyche was the deification of the human soul. She was portrayed in ancient mosaics as a goddess with butterfly wings (because psyche was also the Ancient Greek word for 'butterfly'). The Greek word psyche literally means "soul, spirit, breath, life or animating force".[2]

So in finding harmony between our psyche and soma, mind and body, we are able to achieve bliss through physical pleasure, embodiment, presence. I think there's something interesting about this story; that Aphrodite was attempting to get psyche to fall in love with the ugliest earthly creature, and Psyche was mortal herself, so there's this bridging of the mundane and the divine, a love for things imperfect. This too supports my hypothesis that we can heal our ugliest, most mundane aspects of ourselves by loving them, accepting them first as they are.

What do you desire for your life? Can you feel your desire in an enjoyable, appreciative way?What do you have now, that you previously desired? Can you savour the incremental progress? Can you enjoy the anticipation?

Enjoy the present, enjoy your hunger, the place that you're currently at, in your ever unfolding quest for more.​After all, desire is a fundamental principle of creation.